Airship.



r H. PAEHRMANN.

" AIRSHIP.

APPLICATION FILED our. a, 1908.

Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

3 BHEBTSSHBET 1.

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I AIBSHIP. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 6, 1908.

Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

3 SHEBTSSHEE T 2.

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AIRSHIP.

APPLIOATION FILED 0016, 190a.

Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

i has for its object toprovidje a simple and UNITEDSTATES PATENT orrron.

HERMANN FAEI-IRMANN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AIRSHIP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

To all whom may concern:

I -.Be it known that I, H RMANN FAEI-IR- invented certain new and useful Improve- Inents'in Airships, of which the following is a specification.

ff-My invention relates .to airships of the type in which aeroplanes are employed, and

' very efficientconstruction for controlling all the movements of the airship and for steadying it in its travel.

These results I obtain by means of a novel arrangement of propellers constructed to produce a current of air under the aeroplane or aeroplanes, to 'sup port the ship in the air, and byyary-ing'th'e velocity of these air-currents I may control larly, by making the speed of the air curt-he rising and falling of the ship. Simirents on one side of the ship different from thation the other side, I may cause the ship to turn to one side or the other. I am thus enabled to dispense with rudders and to avoid the reduction .in efiiciency which would be caused by the resistance offered byrudders. The propeller or propellers create a very great pressure, which may be trans formed into high velocity by allowing the air under pressure to escape through a com- H paratively small outlet and, as the size of ing drawings, in which' the outlet. is increased, the velocity of the air-current is reduced and vice versa.

Reference is to be had to the accompany- Figure l is a side view of the air ship with 3 parts in section; Fig. 2 is a front view there- .of: F 1g. .3 1s a plan view portions of the aeroplane being broken away; and Fig. 4 is a detail of the propeller.

The improved air ship consists of a suitable frame work having a number of aero: planes and provided with propellers at each side of the longitudinal axis of the ship. In

-the particular construction illustrated by the drawings there are four sets of uprights I A, so that the ship is divided longitudinally into three compartments, one central compartment and two lateralcomp'artments. I

have shown three tiers of aeroplanes the top; aeroplane B extending across the full width of the ship and substantially the entire length thereof, while the other aeroplanes C C D D extend only across the lateral compartments. Horizontal bars E egitend'- Patented Apr. 16, 1912-. Application filed October 6, 1908. Serial No. 456,438.

ing lengthwise, and transverse horizontal bars F complete the framework of the ma-, chine in connection with diagonalbraces At the frontof the lateralc'ompartmentsare located bearings H for the propeller shafts I. The propellers J are mounted on these shafts and are adapted to rotate in the said compartme11ts. Adjacent to each. propeller s located acyhndrical wall K, which is open toward the rear so as to form two channels,

'an upper channel K terminating below the corresponding aeroplaneYC C and a lowerv channel K 'terminating'below the lower aeroplanes D D. The outlets from these channels are controlled by valves or dampers.

L L worked by suitable hand-levers. In.

. thecpreferred construction .a single'hanch lever M controls both of the lower. valves L, but there is a separate lever M for. the

upper damper L'of one'sidegand another independent lever M for the. .valve or damper L of the other side. All levers are fulcrumed at BI and they are connected with the valves by suitable lever mechanism indicated atN. The motorO is mounted in the central. compartmentwhich also con-' tains the operators seat or standP, and the driving connection may be obtained by means ofchains Q and sprockets Q. so that the propellers will be rotated in opposite directions.

connected by braces or stays R with a hub R which is given a spiral shape so that it will not retard the progress of the. ship, but

I have shown .both propellers. of 'aspecial construction comprising blades R r rather assist in the driving action of the' 3 pellers are rotated by the motor; they will;

compress the air: in the chambers immedi- The uppermost aero-.

ately in the rear of the propellers-and'cun. T

rentslof air will be discharged uncler t he aeroplanes C C, D D. )Ac'cordingas the valves or dampers L L are more or less 'open,,the velocity ofthe current of. air thus caused to stream under the aeroplanes will be smaller or greater, the pressure of air created by the propellers cantherefore be transformed into a high velocity. The currents of air streaming under the aeroplanes -izvill,{therefore have a"support1ng' action whichwill be sufiicient to keep the ship afloat in. the air and at the same time propel it forward partly by a reaction effect and I partly by the propellers screwing themselves into the air. \Vhen it is desired to cause the ship to rise, the lower valves are closed more than the upper ones, so that the cur .rent'y undcr the lower aeroplanes will be of greater velocity than" that under the upper aeroplanes. If it is'desired to swing the ship toward the right, the upper valve on the left-hand side-will be closed more than the one on the right-hand side so as to pro-.

"tlu'ce an air current of greater velocity on "the left ha'rid side than:..on the right. be obvious thatf l may employ several pro-' It will pellers in each lateral. compartment, either on the same shaft onon independent shafts.

The im 'iroved.construction above described enables the. ship to be steered both verticallyfand horizontally with great ease without interfering with its stability, andv by manipulation of. the levers controlling the dampers or. valves.

The propellers may be arranged to rotate about axes which are horizontal as shown, or placed in any other position, for instance inclined forward and upward; the axes may even be vertical, in which case the reaction alone would propel the ship. In each case,

however, channelsavould' be arranged to discharge currents of air'under the aeroplanes. In some cases, 'a-singleaeroplane might be sufficient. A single propeller may beused, whether one or more aeroplanes be employed. Of course, steering gear of any ap-.

proved construction may. be used instead of, or in conjunction with, the' particular steering device herein described.

To enable the ship to rise from and alight upon wateras well as on land, "I may provide it with floats T.

I claim: F12 An airship provided With an aero plane, a rotatable propeller for propelling the ship and for creating a current of air directly under andagai'nst the. aeroplane and a device separate from said propeller "for varying the velocity of said current.

2. An airship provided with an aeroplane, a propeller and a pressure chamber.

plane, a propeller for moving said ship, a

channel for conducting air from the propeller under the aeroplane, and a valve located in said channel. l" 4. An air ship provided with superposed aeroplanes, a chamber, channels having an outlet beneath each aeroplane and each communicating with saidv chamber and means in said chamber for discharging a current of air through each outlet of said channels. 5. An air ship provided with superposed aeroplanes, means for creating a current of air and means separate from said aeroplanes for dividing said current of air and conducting it respectively beneath each plane. 6. An air ship provided with superposed aeroplanes, a chamber having. a reduced outlet bencath each. aeroplane and a propeller in said chamber for discharging a current of air through each outlet. An air ship provided with superposed aeroplanes. a chambr'having an outlet be neath each aeroplane,.a propelleiajn said chamber for discharging a current of air through each outlet and means for varying the velocity of said air currents without changing the speed of the propeller; w

- 8. An air ship provided with superposed aeroplanes, separate'chambers each having an outlet beneatheach aeroplane, means in each chamber for discharging a current of air through each outlet and means for varyingthe velocity of said air currents without changing the speed of-the propeller.

9. An air ship provided with superposed aeroplanes, separate chambers at each side of said ship, each having outlets beneath the upperand lower aeroplanes, means in each chamber for discharging an air current through each outlet, disconnected means for separately varying the velocity of the air currents through the upper outlets and connected means for simultaneously varying the'velocity'of the air currents through each lower outlet.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 26th day of September 1908.

HERMANN FAEHRMANN.

WVitnesses 1 l I 7 JOHN LOTKA,

J OHN A. KEHLENBEG 

